Report by Akshya Rout, JAJPUR: On Sunaday Dharamasala MLA Himanshu Sekhar Sahoo Said Opposition BJD looted public money and providing protective cover to most corrupt officials during its regime. He Said With the massive crackdown by the Vigilance department yielding unprecedented amounts of unaccounted wealth and properties amassed by several senior officials including chief engineers and state service officers, the saffron party straightaway pointed at the much-hyped zero tolerance to corruption stance and 5T policy of the previous Naveen Patnaik government. Himanshu said the recovery of mind numbing amount of cash, jewellery and other valuables along with numerous flats and plots from a retired chief engineer shows how efficiently the BJD government was functioning under the 5T scheme.He Said former chief minister Naveen Patnaik had given a clarion call to people stating, “You guard your village, I am guarding the secretariat”. If government officials who worked on the field accumulated so much wealth, it is anybody’s guess on wealth amassed by those who were guarding the state secretariat for so long, he stated. Biswal said the previous government was only catching small fish while big looters of public funds were given protection as they were taking care of BJD’s election funding. Leaders of BJD who have been taking credit for the clean image of party and their leadership are now silent after the series of raids on corrupt officials, he said.Himanshu Said Jajpur district had received Rs 3074 crore from the Chief Minister’s Special Relief Fund between 2021 and 2024. This apart, the district administration had spent Rs 3008 crore. Despite so much money being pumped into the district, 437 projects have been completed, 255 projects are still in progress and 1037 projects are yet to be started. The district was so favourite that even though 24 projects were not started in 2021-22, the government had gifted projects worth thousands to the district. When the election was around the corner, the number of grants to the district doubled. “Have you ever heard so much money being released from the Chief Minister’s Special Fund to a district? What happened with the money? There should be an enquiry?” said Himanshu. “Jajpur district is perhaps the district to receive the highest amount of grant.
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